Beryl Battery Energy Storage System

BERYL BESS

The Beryl BESS is another renewable energy project that adds to the cumulative fire risk of renewable energy projects and associated tranamission infrastructure in the CWO-REZ.

How devastating these fires can be is evident in the coronial inquiry into the 2009 Victorian Black Saturday bushfires. There were 11 major fires on that day, 6 of which were started by power lines. There were 173 deaths with 159 of those deaths attributed to the 6 power line fires.

The AEMO has given the CWO-REZ a fire rating of E; this being the worst possible rating on a scale from A to E. Building any electrical infrastructure that can start fires, including BESS, solar farms, wind farms and associated tranission infrastructure in this REZ presents an unacceptable fire risk.

Add to this the predictions of climate change, in which the extreme weather events experienced in the Victorian fires become much more prevalent, and the situation becomes even more perilous.

This will be compounded further by the reduced ability to fight these fires. Water cannot be used on lithium battery fires, It is too dangerous for fire crews to access fires within solar farms, and power lines and wind turbines restrict the use of aerial water bombing to control these fires.

The proposed Beryl BESS is situated in close proximity to a large number of rural residences; that is 16 within 1km and 28 within 2km. Hot dry westerly winds create the worst possible fire conditions, with the Beryl Bess being only 6km west of Gulgong township. It is directly across the Beryl road from the Beryl Solar Farm. This facility has already experienced a major fire within its boundaries.

From a fire perspective alone the Beryl BESS should not be approved. Anyone doing so would be at risk of being deemed culpable before a coronial inquiry.

The visual amenity and noise implications for residents in the immediate viinity must also be considered. The suggested provision of vegetation screening may not be successful; witness the Beryl Solar Farm. Screening is ultimately an admission of failure in that the visual impact is considered so bad and unacceptable that in a rural setting attempts must be made to hide it from view.

The necessity of large amounts battery energy storage in the CWO-REZ must also be questioned. If the majority of renewable energy is and will be produced from rooftop solar, then it would be logical to promote residential battery storage rather than storage in inappropriate locations such as the Beryl BESS.

All of the above would suggest that the Beryl BESS should not be granted approval.

Please see my attached submission on BESS.

My oppositions to this proposed project are many but in particular I am very concerned about the use of industrial lithium batteries. They require many minerals to be mined, including in wilderness areas, that are toxic and, in some cases, require the use of slave labour to keep costs down. The recycling of thousands of tonnes of lithium batteries is not yet viable and, due to their short economic lives, will pollute our environments in a few short years. They pose fire and toxic smoke risks to fire-fighters and nearby residents and my town that will continue to occur despite the claims by the Proponent.

I further object to this Electricity Generating Works proposal because I am convinced it will never result in cheaper electricity for us or others. Our electricity costs have already gone up four-fold in four years even before the latest 25% increase by the AER. Wind and solar electricity generation requiring backup storage such as this BESS proposal have increased significantly over the same period. Conclusion, as discovered by others around the world, more wind and solar equals increasingly higher energy bills.
Your faithfully
A Very Concerned Gulgong Resident

I object to this proposed project. My property will be a few kilometres from the Beryl BESS site and many other under construction and proposed unreliables solar, BESS and wind works. The Beryl BESS and the other projects pose so many risks to the local human and animal populations. Risks still include grass/bush fires, noise, soil and water contamination, very high disposal costs, unclear responsibility for end-of-life clean up, lack of economic viable recycling of such huge volumes of toxic components, and the risk of obsolescence as much better technologies become available over the next few years.

Save Our Surroundings (SOS) objects to the proposed BESS Works in this project because there are still so many unresolved concerns about risks and issues involved with Battery Energy Storage Systems (BESS), for instance:
1. Lack of research into the life-cycle of BESS
2. Resource intensive requirements
3. Involves slavery in mining and production
4. Environmentally damaging
5. Fire starting risks increased
6. Fire-fighting dangers increased
7. Local fire risks considerably increased
8. Expensive
9. Short life-span
10. Variable operation
11. Very little Australian content
12. Increased energy and sovereign risks
13. Roads and road travel are impacted
14. Electricity charging and air-conditioning requirements are high
15. Classed as hazardous goods
16. No certainty at end of the short life of a BESS
17. Increased dependency on intermittent electricity generation
18. Poor viability
19. Increase retail electricity prices.
Please refer to the attachment for details.

This battery will further exacerbate the sigificant fire risk that the existing solar factory is already exposing residents to. Batteries are known to be fire prone and the local RFS cannot enter the solar factory and battery fires cannot be extinguished. I am concerned about further reduction I property values a
Ready experienced since the solar factory was installed. I am concerned about the loss of further productive farm land I our area after already losing a significant amount of pri e land to install the solar factory. I am concerned about further environmental damage exacerbating that already experienced by the install of the solar factory.

The solar farm already installed has proven to be a significant fire risk, has resulted in a significant drop in my property value, is a risk to the environment due to the leaching of compounds into my paddocks and has in increased flooding due to the filling in of dams. What unforeseen degradation will result for this next project.

Further the solar factory already installed is reaching quarter to half life and as such to install this battery alongside this aging eyesore is creating an additional environmental relic that will need to be disposed of when this ridiculous experiment is finally shelved.